"The law, passed after Watergate, is designed to ensure a reliable and accessible public record. It makes presidential documents public by law, and governs how and when they must be preserved."
"If the opinion stands, it will allow Trump to destroy the records of his administration's actions, or take records with him at the end of his term."
"Trump's habit of making policy without deliberation, and often with stream-of-consciousness speeches and posts on social media, means that his administration is a paradox: simultaneously one of the most transparent and most opaque in American history."
"The Office of Legal Counsel exists to issue sophisticated legal guidance to the White House, and in effect is frequently asked to provide justification for an administration's actions."
The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion stating that the Presidential Records Act of 1978 is unconstitutional. This ruling could enable Trump to destroy records from his administration or take them upon leaving office. If upheld, this would result in Trump being one of the least documented presidents in history. The paradox of his administration lies in its simultaneous transparency and opacity, marked by impulsive policy-making and social media use.
Read at The Atlantic
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